“…Seed to the sower, and bread to the eater” (Isa 55:10-11). “Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown” (2 Cor 9:10). Two passages—one from the gospel prophet, Isaiah, and one from the evangelist to the Gentiles, Paul—are linked by the common idea of combining bread for food and seed for sowing. The Isaiah passage is a promise; the Corinthian verse is a prayer. In Bible days, if a farmer didn’t sow seed, he had two problems: no seed for his fields and no bread for his table. Is there a lesson here for us? If we are not in the fields sowing seed, it is not just that our harvesting of souls diminishes. It may also be that our children are starving for the Word. Not that there is a shortage of preaching! But if I’m not sharing the gospel with the lost, my preaching is disconnected from reality. Only with this combination will we be “enriched in everything to all bountifulness” and will our lives ring with “thanksgiving to God.” —J.B.N.